NZEDGE News — New Zealand through the eyes of the world's media

NZ’s Best Live Music Venues

“Having just returned from a trip across the pond I can safely say New Zealand is like no other,” writes Jareth Leslie-Evans in an article in Australian based online music and youth culture magazine…

Stewart Island One of Business Insider’s Must Visit Islands

With the help of “some of the most influential travel bloggers and experts”, Business Insider Australia compiled a list of 100 breathtaking and memorable lesser-known islands”. New Zealand’s Stewart Island…

Designer Emilia Wickstead Sets Her Dream Table

In a style feature for the UK’s Sunday Times, New Zealand-born designer Emilia Wickstead reveals her perfect dinner setting, alongside tables created by American Rosie Assoulin and English jewellery designer Sabine Getty. “The first thing…

Cast Announced for BBC’s The Luminaries Adaptation

Eva Green (“Casino Royale”), Eve Hewson (“The Knick”) and Marton Csokas (“Into the Badlands”) will star in “The Luminaries, “the TV adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s award-winning novel,” writes Stewart Clarke in an article for…

Melanie Lynskey Steps into Castle Rock Character

New Zealander Melanie Lynskey, one of the stars of Hulu’s Castle Rock, came of age in a cinematic era of dark quirk, but from Heavenly Creatures to Ever After to Sweet Home Alabama to…

Royal Academy Compels a Generation of New Voyagers at Riveting Oceania Exhibition

“Quite the most striking thing about this exhibition on the art of the Pacific islands is the sheer scale of the area it covers: Oceania,” writes Melanie McDonagh in a review of the exhibition…

Attica is Melbourne’s Most Prized Possession

Melbourne always seems to be one step ahead when it comes to world-class food hot-spots. From suburban eateries making waves internationally to Asian bars serving up fusion flavours with a heavy side of “vibes”,…

Blonde Poison in Berlin Stars Dulcie Smart

Germany-based actress New Zealander Dulcie Smart performs in the Berlin production of Blonde Poison, on until 3 October at the city’s Brotfabrik theatre. In the one-woman play, Smart plays Stella, an older woman looking…

Musician Julien Dyne Ups the Tempo on Teal

New Zealander Julien Dyne’s forthcoming album Teal is “a joyful exploration of afro-influenced percussive house and electronic soul”, according to Anton Spice writing for Britain’s music and arts enterprise, The Vinyl Factory. “Dyne, whose CV…

Paul Ewen’s Francis Plug Saviour of Comic Fiction

New Zealand-born author Paul Ewen’s creation Francis Plug, sociopathic stalker of literary celebrities, returns in, Francis Plug: Writer in Residence. Ben Myers reviews the book for The Spectator. “Plug first appeared as the unhinged narrator of 2014’s…

Chef Jude Kereama a Reluctant TV Star

New Zealander Jude Kereama starred in a recent run of BBC Two’s Great British Menu – but the Cornwall-based chef really didn’t want to take part. The chef behind Porthleven harbour’s popular Kota and Kota…

Oamaru Farmer Grant McNaughton an Award Nominee

Six young agriculture professionals from both sides of the Tasman – including managing director of McNaughton Farms in Oamaru, Grant McNaughton, 34 – are in the running for the prestigious Zanda McDonald Award. Now in its…

Artist Angela Tiatia Holds On in Tuvalu’s Tides

Auckland-born, Sydney-based artist Angela Tiatia, who was a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize, is a person of movement, of restless tides. Her solo show, Holding On, is exhibited at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre…

Scott Dixon Ties With Indy Legend AJ Foyt

The 2018 IndyCar championship in Sonoma, California is New Zealander Scott Dixon’s fifth in Indy cars, tying him with American legend AJ Foyt for most-ever crowns. Dixon is also third now in all-time Indy…

England Announce John Mitchell in Defence Role

England have appointed New Zealander John Mitchell as their defence coach until the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Mitchell was England’s assistant coach under Clive Woodward between 1997 and 2000 before he went…

New Zealand Celebrates 125 Years of Women Voting

New Zealand became the first nation in the world to allow women to vote 125 years ago, and hundreds of people celebrated the anniversary by turning out to gatherings and speeches. New Zealand’s female lawmakers…

Robinson Releases Heartachingly Honest “Medicine”

“Robinson’s upbeat electronic pop anthem ‘Nothing To Regret,’ has over 50 million streams online, and went gold in her home of New Zealand. Now, she’s seeking global stardom with ‘Medicine,”…

Ashleigh Young’s Evocative Prose is Irresistible

“New Zealander Ashleigh Young’s Can You Tolerate This? is an extremely charming essay collection, comprised mainly of snapshots of Young’s life from childhood onwards; walking across gravel roads hand in…

New Zealand-Style Ice Cream Hits Boulder Streets

“Two torn labrums in my hips,” says American Emily Morris of the injury that led her to create a mobile ice cream operation. She’d just returned from a yearlong trip to New Zealand, where…

Julie Sufi the Face of Australia’s Pageantry Gowns

In a city identified for its style and statement, Melbourne is tough turf for designers. Home to style icons, it is hard to stand out and persist. But a woman of Kashmiri origin, 28-year-old…

Rosé a New Zealand-Born K-Pop Idol

A member of one of the most popular female K-pop girl groups, Auckland-born Park Chae Young, aka Rosé, 21, is gaining popularity in her own right for the sweet timbre of her voice. Since the…

Auckland: The Economics of Shared Streets

“The obsession with self-driving cars and dockless cycles means pedestrians are often overlooked. But if we fail to accommodate those on foot, we ignore an essential part of what makes a city great,” writes…

Golfer Lydia Ko Picks the Confidence Club

“It’s already my fifth year on the tour and I feel like I kind of set the bar very high for me at an early age,” New Zealand professional golfer

Imogen Taylor Wins Wallace Arts Trust Paramount Award & Frances Hodgkins Fellowship

New Zealand artist Imogen Taylor has won this year’s Wallace Arts Trust Paramount Award with her work Refusal to Yield and has received the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship for 2019, writes…

Taika Waititi Speaks at Toronto Master Class

“I dreamt of becoming a filmmaker in my 30s, it was an arranged marriage,” New Zealand director Taika Waititi told the audience at a recent Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)…

Gemma New Leads St. Louis Symphony Opener

This month, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) opens its 2018/2019 season on 22 and 23 September, at Powell Hall. Resident conductor, New Zealander Gemma New will lead the orchestra,…

Broods Release “Lovably Bizarre” Video for “Peach”

Brother-sister duo “Broods are back with a new music video for ‘Peach,’ marking the first visuals for their upcoming album, which is slated to release in…

Anna Paquin Stars in New Film Tell It to the Bees

New Zealander Anna Paquin’s new film, Tell It to the Bees may be set in a small Scottish village in the 1950s, but it deals with issues that are still…

Maori Language Is Having a Renaissance in NZ

“A teenage thrash metal band screams out Maori lyrics in its latest videos. A popular radio host is learning New Zealand’s indigenous language and sharing new vocabulary with his audience. Maori is having a…

Trailblazers: 125 Kiwi Women Who Changed the World

125 Kiwi women who changed the world have been showcased in a special project in The New Zealand Herald, which explores their extraordinary stories. It’s “a combination of high profile women, such as Helen…

Scott Dixon Wins 5th IndyCar Championship

Scott Dixon has won his 5th IndyCar Championship after finishing second in the season finale, “the same place he started, behind Ryan Hunter-Reay,” as reported in an article in The…

New Zealand’s NZX Partners With Nasdaq

“NZX Ltd (NZX.NZ) has signed a deal with U.S. exchange Nasdaq Inc (NDAQ.O) to explore opportunities in dual listings and depository receipts, as the New Zealand bourse looks to attract share sales by providing…

Claudia Li Casts Only Asian Models in NY

A lack of diversity in the fashion world means that all too often, there might be just a handful of non-white models to take the runway at a Fashion Week show. But not at…

Video of One Honky-Tonky Wonky Donkey Goes Viral

A Scottish grandmother’s reading of New Zealander Craig Smith’s 2009 children’s picture book The Wonky Donkey to her grandson in a home video has seen demand for it skyrocket around the…

Parris Goebel Choreographs Rihanna’s Lingerie Show

The choreography for Rihanna’s New York Fashion Week 17-minute savage beast lingerie runway show, which was live-streamed on YouTube, was orchestrated by New Zealander superstar Parris Goebel. Rihanna unleashed the wild…

Why NZ Is an Attractive Destination For Scientists

Our country’s fertile research landscape, combined with a sustained funding drive, makes it a rewarding place to work, according to freelance journalist James Mitchell Crow writing for science journal, Nature. At high tide, the Cook…

Madeleine Jones’ Style Is a Technicolour Dream

“If I could define in one word it would be, colourful,” New Zealand-born, New York-based stylist assistant Madeleine Jones tells Vogue magazine. “I could count on less than one hand the number…

Why Irish Physios Are Flocking to New Zealand

Why do so many Irish physiotherapists choose to move to New Zealand? Over the past decade, the highest number of New Zealand work visas for Irish citizens went to physiotherapists, with 444 work visas…

Mountaintops to the Deep Sea in the Milford Sound

“Key Summit is one of many hiking trails – or as locals call them, tracks – that crisscross the South Island near Milford Sound, the green gemstone atop New Zealand’s wilderness crown,” Nevada-based Erin…

Lorde Is an Author of Adolescent Evolution

“You could drink the water content out of the air the first time I heard Lorde on the radio,” according to South Florida-based NPR journalist Cyrena Touros. “Spun between Imagine Dragons’ speaker-shaking ‘Radioactive’ and…

Kotimana Just the Boat the Kemps Always Wanted

Two years of hard work came to fruition recently, when the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding in Washington, in the United States, launched the newly finished Dark Harbor 17 ½ sailboat, ‘Kotimana’. The yacht…

Trekking N Korea with the Intrepid Roger Shepherd

Hoping to open up a side of North Korea rarely seen by outsiders, New Zealander Roger Shepherd who has extensive experience climbing the mountains of North and South Korea, is leading the first group…

Harry Potter Musical Casts Gareth Reeves in Lead

Playing the boy who lived – well, the man who lived, given that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child takes place 19 years after the Battle of Hogwarts – is Gareth Reeves (pictured right),…

Young Leader Chloe Fox Takes Organic Farm’s Reins

New Zealander Chloe Fox, 31, can’t believe her luck. One minute she is living her life’s ambition, working in “the best job ever” growing fresh, healthy crops for an organic vegetable producer. Seemingly the…

Hong Kong’s Newest Racecaller is Tom Wood

He started out commentating his brother running laps at their family home and now New Zealander Tom Wood, 28, is living out a dream as he settles into life as Hong Kong’s newest racecaller,…

Brad Brenneman Making Kyrgyzstan Coffee Connections

New Zealander Brad Brenneman is often credited with kickstarting the coffee revolution in Kyrgyzstan. He opened the first Sierra Coffee shop next to the Russian Embassy in 2012, two years after another revolution that…

Dancer Brendan Cole Announces Big Strictly News

In an exclusive interview and photoshoot for Hello!, former Strictly Come Dancing star Christchurch-born Brendan Cole, 42, has announced that he will be writing a weekly column on the new series of the BBC…

Oregon-Based Paul Nicholson’s Life of Purpose

Retired Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) executive director Paul Nicholson is interviewed by Oregon daily newspaper, Mail Tribune as part of the publication’s periodic ‘Community Builder’ series. Nicholson, who moved to the United States in 1980, says…